To not be happy about Brownies litter picking?

[ImNameyChangey]

I know it's part of what Brownies are about...to be public spirited and I do appreciate that it's important for them to learn about this sort of thing but the area around the Brownie hall is very large, open and is close to a lot of houses and flats.

It's an area with mixed social issues...on the one hand it's middle class but on the other there are people with drug problems.

My DD like many of the other Brownies is only 7 and giving her one glove and a bag and telling her to pick up packets etc isn't sensible imo. There could not only be syringes but dog mess and all manner of other nasty stuff.

I feel like I want to say something to the leaders about this.

God you lot are so easy to wind up!!!

it probably isn't the brownies who need to understand about the wildlife being injured and so on - they are probably not the ones who are dropping the litter, and dare I say it, probably not the ones who will go on to drop it when they are bigger.

Do you think Brownies come from a special subset of people who never do anything wrong?

mommabear unfortunately we're easy to wind up because so many parents really do think that way.

Psipsina it isn't too late to join :)

You do get some trying parents but they are normally the minority.

There are so many opportunities for adults in Guiding, you can travel all round the world and not all volunteering has to be with the girls. Apart from the 2 units I am a leader with, I also deal with the girls' records, welcoming new volunteers, helping them through the leadership qualification and doing the DBS checks. There are leader only trips and events too, some are purely social and others can be about learning new skills/gaining experience to take back to the unit.

I have only had 1 volunteer that we couldn't find a role for. She had no transport and worked on the nights that units were meeting near her that she could get a lift to. We looked into alternative roles but she only wanted to help in unit meetings.

Oh, and I am also disabled. Girlguiding is really good at being inclusive to people with disabilities IME.

mommabear are you now saying that you only posted that comment just to wind people up?

If that's the case it's called being goady and does not go down well with HQ. They start to wonder if posters are genuine so you might want to be more careful about whether what you post is genuinely what you think/feel or if it is just to annoy others.

OP if you're not going to answer my question about whether your dd was harmed, I'm going to assume that it's because she wasn't. I'm sure that if there had been any incident at all, you would have posted about it.

Our brownie pack have done litter pickings - just wearing gloves. Both DDs did a beach clean - youngest did it as part of Nationwide thing.
Most disgusting thing found - which eldest insisted on bringing home and it took me ages to get rid of - was a small dead crab - really stinking even when she found it.
I have absolutely no problem with it - think it is a very good idea. Every one of those brownies may well come across someone in the future who hasn't been as well educated and they can pass their knowledge on.
I was a brownie - didn't litter pick as far as I remember - but was taught never to drop litter (maybe because my GPs had a farm).
I then met someone who shocked me by dropping litter in the street - when I said something they said 'well the council pay someone to come and clean it up' . To my knowledge they stopped and have never done it again (it was my (now long term) DP).
I was also once giving a 10yo a lift in my car and they threw a can out of the window - I was - hopefully they also will think before doing similar again.

In fact the older pupils (from 8 up) in our primary school do regular litter picking in the school grounds (admittedly there are no dogs allowed and we don't have any local drug takers that leave needles hanging around that I know of). Not sure if they have sticks or not ...most of what they find has been blown in ...cos they tend not to drop litter.

I'm a Brownie Guider, and I'd like to thank everyone on here who has written a supportive post. Thank you.

We love volunteering with the girls, and rely on the support and trust of parents.

Most of us would give up Guiding if the majority of parents were like the OP.

OP, please be kind and supporting to the Brownie guides. They are volunteers, and I am sure that none of them would ever do something to intentionally harm your dd.

If you really can't make peace with the activities they do with your DD, then I think you need to remove her from the group. They don't need to change their attitude, you do.

Fairenuff - I wasn't intending to wind people up - I was saying it's so easily done on here!!! People jump down your throat and react in such over the top ways it makes me laugh!!! I mean the idea that my daughter is a precious little princess just because I don't particularly want her picking up other people's crap is ridiculous. I drum it into her that she must always clean up after herself and she helps me out doing volunteer work gardening at the local preschool and making it look nice. People don't seem to be able to deal maturely with opinions that contradict their own and jump to ridiculous conclusions!!

We are all grown women and we should be able to have a mature discussion about whether litter picking is a beneficial activity for children without making ill informed personal attacks on each other.